Apparatus for maintaining a uniform temperature in railway freight-vans.



A. W. PRIIVI I F. W. ROPER.

APPARATUS FOR MAINTAINING A UNIFORM TEMPERATURE IR RAILWAY FREIGHT VANS.

Patented J une 5, 191 I".

Urza' WPr ha gy ajzcz Wl? APPLICATION FILED JULY 28.19l3.

94A-LMA A. W. PRIIVI F. W. ROPER.

APPARATUS FOR IVIAINTAINING A UNIFORM TEMPERATURE IN RAILWAY FREIGHTVANS.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 2S, ISIS. y

- Patented June o, 1917.

5 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

A. w. PRIIVI I 1F. W. R'OPER.

APPARATUS FOR NIAINTAINING A UNIFORM TEIVIPERATURE IN RAILWAY FREIGHTVANS. APPLICATION FILED JULY 28,-1913.

LQQQQ. Ihnen-ted June 5, 1917.

PRIIVI & F. W. ROPER.

APPARATUS FOR MAINTAINING A UNIFGRIVI TEMPERATURE IN RAILWAY FREIGHTVANS.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 28.1913.

Patented .T une 5, 19T 7.

5 SHEETS-SHEET 4.

Znvenofy maf WIJN@ @www Wjojo e7, '7 @M @5MM y M'. MMM

A. W. PRIM & F. W. ROPER. APPARATUS FoR NIAINTAINING A UNIFORMTEMPERATURE IN RAILWAY FREIGHT VANS.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 28.1913. y l ,699.. Patented June o, 1917.

5 SHEETS-SHEET 5.

of Lancaster,

@D @TATE% @LATEN ARTHUR WILLIAM PRIN, `OF LIVERPOOL, AND FRANCIS WILLIAMROIER, OF

' SHEFFIELD, ENGLAND.

APPARATUS FOR MAINTAININ Gr A UNIFORM TEMPERATURE IN VANS.

:RAILWAY FREIGHT- Patented J une 5, iai 7.

Application filed J' u1;1 28,' 1913. Serial No. 781,568.

To all whom z' may concern:

Be it known that we, ARTHUR WILLIAM PRIM, a subject of the King of GreatBritain, and residing in Liverpool, in the county England, and FRANCISWIL- LIAM ROPER, a subject of the King of Great Britain, and residing inSheiield, in the county of York, England, have invented certain new anduseful Improvements in Apparatus for Maintaining a Uniform Temperaturein Railway Freight-Vans, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to apparatus for maintaining a uniformtemperature in railway freight-vans, and the object is to provide asuitably insulated freight-van which shall, as an independent unit, beprovided with its own apparatus, actuated by the rotation of the caraxle, and adapted to circulate the air within the van, and, when,necessary, to heat the circulating air, the temperature of the van beingmaintained within prescribed limits by means of thermostats which arearranged to control the heating apparatus and, if necessary, the aircirculation.

According to the present invention the energy utilized in the heatingdevices, the circulating devices and the thermostat is electrical energygenerated by a dynamo driven by the van axle; and each van is fittedwith its own dynamo, heating devices, circulating devices andthermostats, so that the vans may be made up in special trains or becoupled to ordinary trains; be quite self contained; and not need anyspecial form of coupling or any special connection to the locomot1ve,being in respect to the rest of the train simply provided with the usualdraw-bar and brake couplings.

The vans are thus adapted to pass over various railway systems withoutin any way interfering with the usual service conditions of suchrailways.

In carrying out our invention we fit any suitable type of dynamo whichis adapted I to give a fairly constant potential when driven from lthecar axle which, of course, will have a variable speed; such types ofdynamos are now well known and the potential regulation may be obtainedeither by an arrangement of dierential field windings,

armature connections, governor controlled slack belt driving means, orby combinations of, these devices.

The van is carefully insulated against heat transfer either from withinor without, and the freight,say fruit, is preferably packed on aperforated false bottom; the space below the false bottom communicateswith suitably disposed air trunks through which the air is circulated byelectrically operated fans supplied with current from the dynamo; in theair trunks are fitted electric radiators composed of resistances adaptedto be heated by current supplied from the dynamo, the current sosupplied being regulated by thermostats, controlled by temperaturevariations within the van, and adapted to actuate, by electrical means,suitable switch or the like controlling gear.

The fans deliver the air into an open space inthe van above the freightand the air trunks and openings in the false bottom are so arranged asto provide a uniform circulation of air through all parts of thefreight.

A plurality of thermostats are preferably fitted and these may be soconnected to the switch gear controlling ythe radiators that thecombined action of all the thermostats is necessary to effect theregulation, so that a small and local variation of temperature, whichmay aliect the one thermostaty only, is not operative to affect thecontrol gear; or, of course, each thermostat may .control local sectionsof the radiators. l

In some climates at certain seasons it may be necessary to circulate theexternal air through the vans to keep the temperature below prescribedlimits, and In such cases suitable shutters and louvers are provided bythe expansion and contraction of metal parts consequent upon variationof temperature, movement of the necessary extent to actuateelectriccontacts being obtained by differential expansion or by the curving of abent strip lor by both actions combined. A suitable type of thermostatfor use in connection with our invention is described in an applicationfor a British patent made by us No. 16317 dated July 12th, 1912.

Usually the thermostats are lemployed to control the radiator regulatinggear only, but they may be usedalso to regulate the speedof the fans andto operate the shutters and louvers so as to automatically change, whenthe atmospheric conditions need it, the internal heating circulation toan external cooling circulation.` The thermostats are adapted to performthese funtions since they depend for their action' upon thev variationof temperature within the van; for instance, when the temperature tendsto fall below that prescribed, the thermostat operates the control .gearso as to supply current" to the radiators and the fans at such rate asto supply and distribute the necessary heat to the van; when theteinperature rises, the current to the radiators is cut-olf, and shouldit rise still further the louvers and shutters are operated, preferablyby electrical means, so as to give the` external circulation described.

We have in the accompanying drawings illustrated by way of example theapplication of our invention to two different types of freight cars.

In these drawings Figure 1 is an elevation in section on the line I, I,of Fig. 2, ofone .type of freight car, Fig. 2 b eing a corresponding endelevation in section on the line II, II, of Fig. 1; for considerationsof space the right hand end of the car is shown broken away, they partomitted is however similar to the corresponding part on the left hand.Fig. 3 is a sectional half plan to an enlarged scale on the line III,III, of Fig. 2 of one of the heating apparatus and its casing; thisapparatus being symmetrical about the center line X, X, and Fig. 4 is avertical section on the line IV, vIV, of Fig. 3. Fig. 5 is an elevationpartly in section on the line V, V, of Fig. 6, and shows the inventionapplied to a freight car ,of the Continental type; this view shows theright hand half of the car, which, ex-

' cept that there need be but the one dynamo,

is symmetrical about the center line Y, Y. Fig. 6 is a corresponding endelevation in section on the line V1, VI, of Fig. 5, and Fig. 7 is adiagram of the electrical connections.

A is the freight car 'ortruck, the wheels,

springs, axle boxes, buffers, truck gear, and general frame work ofwhich is of the usual construction, and will not be herein furtherdescribed; the ends, top and sides are insulated-with any suitableinsulationa, and the iioorvi?a of .the^ car may also be insulated thelevel or a false bottom may be provided to carry ends with air trunks B,in the lower portions ?21 of which the electrical heating apparatus C ishoused, the upper portions b2 are preferably arranged to converge, andat the top to join a longitudinal air trunk B divided into two parts bya division b3. The air trunk`is provided with one or more aircirculatingdevices; in the drawings two fans Dare fitted, one for eachlhalf of the top air trunk B; the fans are operated by electric motorsd1. A series of adjustable openings b4 is provided in the air trunkwhich is adjusted to provide the necessary local circulations of air.

At opposite ends of the truck, openings E are rovided which are ttedwith a series of a justable louvers e1, which may bev used in the summertime when the' heating .apparatus is not. required, to admit the desiredvolume of cooling air into the air cas# ing, the louvers in the forwardend ofthe truck (the left h and in the drawings) being open so as togive a natural circulation due to the velocity of the'truck. In thewinter the openings E would' be permanently closed by frames e2 fittedwith the usual insulation. The openings E as stated lead preferablytothe air trunks, but they may, in some cases, be 'arranged so as to admitair directly into the interior of the truck.

Openings F protected by4 gratings f1 extend across the bottom of eachend of the truck; these openings are controlled by doors f2, which intheir lower vertical position (as shown at the left hand end of thetruck) close the openings F; and in their upper horizontal position(shown at the right hand end of the truck) close the lower ends of theair trunks b1.

In cold weather the openings E and F are closed; the fans D then drawthe air aippthrough the air trunks" B where it is heated by contact withthe electric heaters C; the air is then drawn through the trunks B andis distributed into the car through the fans, in the direction indicatedby the arrows. The air then passes through the freight (which is looselypacked up to about of the line-Z, Z) ,and then returns to the air trunksthrough the openings in the lower end ofthe lower parts b1.

.In warm weather the louvers e1 of the forward openings vE are adjustedto admit a suitable supply of air to the air trunks; this passes intothe cary from the fan openings, thence through thefreight and leaves thecar at the rear opening F; some of the air entering at E may pass downthe lower part b1 of the forward air casing, and pass to the rearopening F through the lower part of the freight; if it is desiredtopreresaca@ vent this latter circulation, the bottom opening of theforward air trunk may be closed by a separate door, as the door f2 inthis arrangement is required to close the forward opening F.

The construction of the electric heating apparatus C will be understoodfrom Figs. 3 and et.

The portion of the air casing 61 in which the heaters are located islined by a sheet iron asbestos protected casing c1; two zig-zag brackets02 are fitted at opposite ends of the casing c1, and the heatingelements C fit into spring recesses c3, s'o as to lie obliquely acrossthe airway.

The successive spring recesses are arranged so that the successiveheating elements are laterally displaced, so that the series of elementsextends across the air way, and the whole of the air comes into contactwith the series of heating elements. The heating elements consistpreferably of a resistance metal wound on 'a mica frame protected bymica cover fplates forming a unit extending across between the twozigzag brackets c2, and adapted when supported in the spring recess inthese brackets to make electrical contactswhich connect them up, say inparallel, across the electrical supply mains.

The current to energize the electric heat- A ers C, and the fans D isprovided by the dynamo G.

This dynamo is driven from the car axle, and may be regulated by any ofthe well known electrical field controlling gears, or

belt tension regulating gear may be fitted to maintain an approximatelyuniform potential for all speeds of the car above the predeterminedminimum; such gear may be arranged if necessary to disconnect the dynamofrom the circuit when the speed falls below the predetermined minimum,although this is not necessary since the maintenance of a uniformpotential is not so important as it would be if lights had to besupplied by the dynamo.

In the drawings the dynamo is shown as being driven from the car axle bythe belt g1, and as being pivotally slung from the underside of thetruck frame, and provided with belt tension controlling gear g2 whichmay be of any suitable type.

Current to the heaters and if desired the current to the fans iscontrolled by a thermostat in accordance with variations of temperature,the thermostat being set to maintain a uniform temperature within thecar.

Any suitable form of thermostat and switch gear may be employed, but thepreferred form of thermostat and switch gear is that described in theprior application above referred to.

The-thermostat and switch are mounted on a suitable panel H located inany convenient position on the side of the car. The thermostat is set sothat the contacts 71.1 (see Fig. 7) are closed so long as thetemperature is above the prescribed minimum desired; when these contactsare closed the winding k1 of the swich K -is energized, a'nd thecontacts 7a2 and k3 are open so that a noninductive resistance g3 isinterposed in series with the shunt winding g4 of the dynamo G, thusconsiderably reducing the eld excitation. v

Should the temperature fall, the contacts k1 open, denergizingg` theswitch K which then short-circuits the resistance g3, whereupon ythefield excitation of the dynamo is increased; and a current of suitablemagnitude is supplied to the heaters c, so that the air circulated bythe fans is warmed to a degree sufiicient to maintain the desiredtemperature, should there be an excess of temperature, the contacts h1again close with the result that the resistance g3 is again interposed.

In Figs. 5 and 6, the arrangement is practically slmilar to that alreadydescribed, except that a plurality of air casings B in which the heatingapparatus is housed are located on the side of the car,- and communicateas before with the air casing B as before the fans D circulate the airin the direction shown by the arrows. Instead of the louvered openingsE, shutter controlled openings E may be provided at each end for theadmission of cooling air, the openings F being arranged as before at thebottom of the ends. The openings E in this arrangement communicatedirectly with the interior of the car, so that the cool air passesthrolugh the freight from the forward openin safgily passing through theair casings.

It will be seen that, where freight has to be conveyed over longdistances through different climates, as for instance from theMediterranean to Northern Europe, the freight may be maintained in goodcondition by means of the fans and heaters in the cold districts, or bythe cooling effect of currents of air induced by the motion of the carin the warmer districts.

The arrangement of the air casings, heaters and fans may of course bemodified to to the rear opening F without necesl suit different types ofvans and in some cases be mechanically driven from we declare that whatwe claim, and desire to secure b Letters Patent is;-

fans forcirculating the air through the air casings, adjustable meanslocated 'at the ends of the car and communicating' with the atmospherefor Ventilating the car, valved'air ports communicating with theatmosphere at the ends of the car and in proximity to said heatingmeans, whereby the car may be completely closed and circulation of the15 heated air eiected therein, or it may be ventilated through openingstothe outside all'.

In testimony whereof we aix our signatures in presence of two witnesses.

ARTHUR WILLIAM PRIM. FRANCIS WILLIAM ROPER.

Witnesses:

J. E. LLOYD BARNES, J osErH E. I-IIRST.

